UUP 'humiliation' in Assembly poll
The Ulster Unionist Party has paid the price for its arrogant treatment of former members in the North’s Assembly Election, it was claimed tonight.
Sir Reg Empey’s Ulster Unionists were arguably the biggest loser of the Assembly election as the Reverend Ian Paisley’s party surged ahead in the race to become the biggest party at Stormont.
With all 18 constituencies declaring their first round of results, the UUP’s percentage share of the vote meant it had fallen behind the SDLP and was now the fourth largest party.
It was also facing pressure in a number of constituencies to hold on to Assembly seats.
Democratic Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who quit the Ulster Unionists after the last Assembly Election, told PA: “It’s been a good day for the DUP.
“Our results right across the country have been a strong endorsement.
“We have also seen a further reversal of the Ulster Unionists position where they have now dipped to an all-time low.
“For Reg Empey, their party leader, to scrape in without reaching the quota in East Belfast on the first count is a personal humiliation and a marker of his failure to provide the leadership that the unionist community is demanding.
“The UUP were given good advice over a number of years, but would not listen and they are now paying the price for their arrogance and their failure to heed those warnings.”
In 1998, the Ulster Unionists had 21.25% of the vote, five years later they had 22.7%.
But after the 2003 elections under David Trimble’s leadership, the party suffered the defection of three Assembly members including Mr Donaldson and Arlene Foster.
The Westminster elections two years ago saw the party vote plummet to 17.7%, but they remained ahead of the SDLP.
When the first preference votes were counted today, the Ulster Unionists stood at 14.9% compared to the SDLP’s 15.2%.
By way of contrast, the DUP saw its vote increase from 25.6% in 2003 to 30%.
Sinn Féin has also seen a growth in its votes from 23.5% in 2003 to 24.3% in the 2005 Westminster elections to 26.1% this time.
The DUP was on course to make crucial gains in East Belfast, East Derry, Upper Bann, North Antrim and Strangford.
The one minor disappointment was the likelihood that Dianne Dodds looked set to lose her West Belfast seat to Sinn Féin in the constituency.
In an impressive piece of vote management, Gerry Adams and his running mates in West Belfast looked like they would all capture five seats.
The most stunning success for Sinn Féin was in the unionist heartland of South Antrim where they parachuted senior member Mitchel McLaughlin, who topped the poll.
Paul Butler was on course to capture Sinn Féin’s first-ever Assembly seat in the unionist dominated constituency of Lagan Valley.
The party was also hopeful of capturing a third seat.
Following Sinn Féin’s historic move to endorse the police in the North, the challenge from dissident republicans failed to make any dent electorally.
Mark Durkan’s SDLP suffered a number of disappointments in key target constituencies and was struggling to hold on to seats in Lagan Valley and South Antrim.
The party was particularly disappointed that one of its up and coming councillors Sharon Haughey failed to regain a seat in Newry and Armagh while Joe Boyle was also struggling to capture the first-ever nationalist seat in Strangford.
The cross community Alliance Party appeared to have a sensational Assembly Election, increasing its percentage vote across the North by 1.5%.
There was a strong possibility Alliance would return with one more seat to Stormont, with Hong Kong-born Anna Lo favourite to make a gain in South Belfast and become the first ever Chinese-born member of a devolved Assembly in the UK.
